Laurelyn Dossett
listen now children a story I’ll tell …

It’s been so cold the last few weeks it’s hard to believe December 21st is the first official day of winter. This year, we’ll have both a full moon and a lunar eclipse on the year’s longest night.

Suits me fine. Lately I’ve been huddled by the fire, trying to write with an open heart, and thinking about winter’s night sky for a new project with the NC Symphony. There is something so blue, and so clear, about looking up at a December night sky—it simply can’t hold a candle to a summer night.

Meantime, don’t let those winter blues get you down. I found a few homemade remedies for the blues while doing a little research on the winter solstice. My favorite calls for “evergreens, bright illumination, large ongoing fires, feasting, communion with close ones, and evening physical exertion by dancing and singing.”

And I’ve got a few things planned this month to help you along the way.



“dancing and singing”

Solstice Celebration at the Poplar Knight Spot
Laurelyn & Scott Manring, Joe Newberry & Jim Collier, and the Martha Bassett Band 
The Rooster’s Wife at Poplar Knight Spot
Aberdeen, NC
6:30 pm, Tuesday, December 21
theroosterswife.org

“feasting and communion with close ones”

Skillet Fried Chicken and Songs from a Southern Kitchen
December 14 Laurelyn and Scott Manring
December 21 Molly McGinn
December 28 Laurelyn and Kari Sickenberger of Polecat Creek
Lucky 32
Greensboro NC
6:30 to 9:30 pm
lucky32.com

I’ll leave the evergreens and “large ongoing” fires to you, your loved ones, and your backyard. Meantime, here’s to Winter’s Light.

photo by Keith Mcadoo

Friday Oct. 16 is The Piedmont Land Conservancy
 Land Jam at the Carolina Theatre with Steep Canyon Rangers and Polecat Creek.

Your $20 ticket will be working to ensure that the Piedmont has clean air, clean drinking water and strong soil for vegetable and plant production for years to come.

Since 1990, the PLC has been working to permanently protect more than 138 of the Piedmont’s special places encompassing nearly 16,000 acres. Through the protection of these lands, the PLC helps ensure the people who live and visit this region have clean drinking water, access to locally grown food, outdoor recreational opportunities, and scenic views.

And Friday night, we’re singing and playing to literally save the places we all love.

Steep Canyon Rangers

The Piedmont Land Conservancy Land Jam
Carolina Theatre
8 pm Friday Oct. 16
Tickets are available online
Or, you can call the Piedmont Land Conservancy at 336-691-0088

Land Trust Alliance

You wouldn’t know it by this picture …

But you know it by the picture below … Despite driving rain and gusting winds, friends of the Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy put on a great party. Gigs like that will make you glad you know a few songs. And yes, Yellow Mountain is as close to heaven as I’ll ever get.

This is why we do it.